Finland should be feeling on top of the world. Twenty years after a desperate banking crisis sparked a deep recession, this most northerly member of the eurozone was hailed on Wednesday as an example to follow by Mario Monti, Italy's prime minister.

The country punches above its weight in negotiations over bailouts for weaker members of the currency union, demanding special collateral deals in return for Finnish approval. It stands distinctively in the eurozone, having the best Moody's credit rating – the only one worthy of AAA – with a stable outlook. But beneath this rosy picture, concern over the future is bubbling among the more than 5 million people who live within Finland's 130,000 square miles of land.

Vesa Puttonen, a professor at Aalto University, in Helsinki, regards Moody's praise as a distinctly mixed blessing and compares Finland to a star performer in a failing school. "We're the model pupil in the classroom, but the class is doing really badly," he said, pointing out that Finland's current account was now in deficit for the first time since the dark days of the early 1990s, and that it was lagging behind Sweden, the big brother over the border who kept out of the euro, on several other measures, too.

"Some of the economic fundamentals are going south," said Puttonen, warning that Moody's blessing could be a curse if it prevented the Finnish public thinking about pressing issues such as whether to raise the retirement age. "We lack a sense of urgency in Finland to deal with our problems."

Finland – its most famous son is the composer Jean Sibelius – has not always taken a harmonious approach to the eurozone since the crisis began. Demands for collateral – protection against Finnish losses if a bailout failed – were an extra hurdle during the talks over Greece's second aid deal, although Moody's applauded the policy. And the noise generated by the eurosceptic True Finns party has fuelled speculation that the country could look for an exit door from the euro.

For Finns, though, the tough stance simply reflects disappointment that many members of the currency union it joined enthusiastically in 1999 have proved somewhat fickle. As Jyrki Katainen, the prime minister, put it this week, for Finns, rules are rules, not a starting point for "creative interpretation".

Puttonen agreed. "We are honest, contract trusting, people. That's good, but it easily happens that we can be cheated by other people who do things differently." And the repeated talk of "lazy southern Europeans" is beginning to grate. "We feel we are in the wrong club, and we are," Puttonen said.

Visitors to Helsinki were treated to a dose of decent summer weather this week. But at Kauppatori, the market square on the eastern edge of the capital, there were signs that the euro crisis storm clouds were casting a shadow.

"We've been here 20 years, and business is the worst it's ever been," said Iiri Rapp, from behind a stall selling rugs, baseball caps, fluffy toys, flags, and T-shirts to tourists. Rapp said that traditionally her best customers, Italians and Parisians, had all but vanished. She blamed the euro crisis, and was pinning her hopes for prosperity on things spinning out of control. "We're hoping they blow up the whole euro," Rapp said. However, she did not believe Finland should just go it alone.

Kauppatori is next to Helsinki's South Harbour, where barges carrying holidaymakers nip around much larger ferries going overseas. Across the square, Hannu Leskinen, another stallholder, argued that Finland had to remain in the euro because of its small size.

"People are very angry about the cost of the bailouts. But there's no point in stopping being a member, even though Italy may be next," Leskinen said.

Finland won independence only in 1917 after 100 years under the Russian thumb; for 500 years before that it was a Swedish territory. Dominated by its bigger neighbours through history, it fought the Soviet Union (twice) and Germany during the second world war.

As Jan von Gerich, a global fixed income strategist for Nordea, a financial services group, pointed out, Finland's commitment to doing the right thing meant it was the only country to meet its reparations bill after the war.

"We obey treaties. That is part of our culture," he said.

After tiptoeing around Russian sensibilities during the cold war, taking a neutral position on key issues, Finland was plunged into deep recession once the Soviet system collapsed.

After slashing spending and devaluing its currency, Finland returned to growth and was admitted to the EU in 1995, the year it also enjoyed one of its greatest sporting triumphs, beating Sweden in the final of the ice hockey world championships in Stockholm (imagine England winning the football World Cup for the first time in a German stadium).

Over the past 15 years the mobile phone company Nokia has come to symbolise the power of modern Finland. But domestic pride has taken a knock recently following Nokia hitting trouble; last week came the announcement that the firm's last remaining Finnish factory would close.

"We used to think of ourselves as Nokialand. But now Nokia is struggling, and we're not so proud of Nokia, after all," said Puttonen.

Von Gerich at Nordea said Finland needed to develop new businesses to fill the hole left by Nokia and by the decline of traditional industries such as timber.

"People are desperately looking for new successes like Nokia, but I believe we need several small successes rather than one huge one."

Despite these problems, daily life in Helsinki appears very agreeable. In a central square which would be perfect for mass daily protests if relocated to Athens, a Latvian R&B band called Čehols was attracting a decent crowd, respectable tips and CD sales.

The lead singer said the group had come over from Riga, and appreciated being funded in euros after "40 kg" of loose change during a trip to Stockholm proved hard to deal with.

The group also had little time for talk of the euro crisis. "We're artists, we don't worry about that," said the drummer. Too cool for koulu, as they might say round here.

Over at Hotel Kämp, just a few well-drilled puck shots away, crowds swarmed this week for a glimpse of Bruce Springsteen, who was in town for a concert. One tourist, who had travelled almost 250 miles (400km) from the town of Kuopio to visit Helsinki, said she was starting to fret about the eurozone, but was convinced Finland should remain in it. "I am a little bit worried, because now so many countries are in little crises."

But mention the words "eurozone crisis" to other Finns, and you could be rewarded with little more than a confused, albeit friendly, smile. Von Gerich believed there was no chance of Finland leaving the eurozone in the short term but said vocal criticism of the single currency would increase. "We might reach the point soon where an opposition party calls for Finland to leave the euro. It will get livelier."

For Elina, a 20-year-old waiter, keeping the coffee and croissants flowing at Kauppatori was a more pressing concern than fretting about the euro. She admitted, though, that some of her friends were a little worried about the situation.

And with reason. Although Finland is one of the few eurozone countries that have managed to drag its youth unemployment rate down recently, more than 17% of under-25s are still officially out of work.

Stroll through Helsinki and you can find some of those young people pounding the streets. Running has long been a passion – thanks to Flying Finns such as Paavo Nurmi, winner of nine Olympic gold metals in the 1920s.

Nurmi's legacy, and the Helsinki Games of 1952, remain an inspiration here, even if Finland's euro adventure is a more painful journey than imagined 13 years ago.

HOW FINLAND COMPARES

FINLAND

GDP: $266bn in 2011 (World Bank)

Debt/GDP ratio: 49%

Unemployment: 7.5% (June 2012)

Inflation: 2.9% (June 2012)

Gross national income/capita: $48,420 (World Bank)

Population: 5.3 million

What they say: "Robust public finances and public financial management (mean) Finland never once breached the European Monetary Union criteria" (Moody's)

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UNITED KINGDOM

GDP: $2.43trn in 2011 (World Bank)

Debt/GDP ratio: 66.1%

Unemployment: 8.1% in May 2012

Inflation: 2.4% in June 2012

Gross national income/capita: $37,780 (World Bank)

Population: 62 million

What they say: "The UK government will implement the bulk of its fiscal consolidation programme, and the economy should recover in the remainder of 2012 and strengthen thereafter." (Standard & Poor's)

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EUROZONE

GDP: $13 trillion in 2011 (World Bank)

Debt/GDP ratio: 87.4%

Unemployment: 11.2% in June 2012

Inflation: 2.4% in July 2012

Gross national income/capita: $38,573 (World Bank)

Population: 332 million

What they say: "Despite extraordinary policy actions, bank and sovereign markets in many parts of the euro area remain under acute stress, raising questions about the viability of the monetary union itself." (The International Monetary Fund)